5 common mistakes in spoken English

What he did, and what you may make of it, is completely different.

I'm going to have to read another paragraph.

Hi, James from engVid.

Today's lesson is on the five most common mistakes people make when they speak, or five

common mistakes.

There are others.

I'm sure we'll get to that.

But the ones I want to work on today are up on the board.

Here's what's funny.

Damn it, I made another mistake.

If you can figure out what it is when I go there, try and figure what I want to teach

you.

Okay?

In English, people speak, and the thing about speaking is, speaking is instantaneous.

Instantaneous means it happens right away.

When you speak, I get a very good idea of how good your English is, or what level your

English is.

So it's important that when you speak, you know these common things.

You get them correct, because quickly people will judge you, because the things I have

on the board are said by Canadians, or Americans, or British people almost every day.

Regular words.

Now, let's go to the board, and I'll give you an example.

I talked about reading another chapter, or make and do.

Okay?

Now, I'll get to make and do, but I can tell you right now we have a bigger lesson, a couple

of them, on the website, so go check out engVid, and you'll see those ones, all right?

So let's start with "other" and "another".

Very common mistake with foreign students, because let's face it, they kind of look the

same.

And when people, Canadians or British people speak, they go, "I'll have another beer, I'll

have another beer."

All you hear is "other".

So it's very confusing.

When do I say "other", and when do I say "another"?

Now, I can't tell you every instance.

Actually, I am going to, we'll have a lesson on it, because it is big.

But the thing that will help you most when you first start off is, go back to basic grammar.

When you go to basic grammar, you learn there are two articles, "a" and "the".

And then you're told specifically that there is "an".

And "an" means "one", because "a" means "one", and "the" means "one".

But we use "an" when there is a vowel involved, right?

So you say "an apple", not "a apple", "an apple".

So right away we have some information.

When we're dealing with "another", we have "an" in front, which means "one".

So a good way to remember if you're having trouble, whether you should say, "I want another

beer" or "I want other beer", "Dos cervezas, por favor", that's the only Spanish I know.

Okay?

And I think it's "dos" with a "da".

Anyway, what you want to keep in mind is "an" means "one".

So here it goes "one other".

Now keep this in mind.

"Other" usually means "different".

The other coat, the other jacket.

We mean not that one, a different one.

With "another" we mean "one addition".

So how will I help you?

Well, when we use "another", we usually mean singular things.

I'll have another drink.

I would like another beer.

Usually one more.

So usually when we say "another", we've got the "one" here, it means "one plus".

Cool, right?

It's easy.

So think singular with "another".

When we usually use "other", we can talk about plurals, right?

I need another person to help me.

One more person to help me.

We don't say "I need other person".

We say "we need others to help" because "other" is usually used in a plural form.

So "other" is usually for different and plurals, right?

And "another" is usually used for singular.

Easy?

Good.

First mistake students make.

Second one.

This gets tricky.

Make and do.

My favorite saying from students is "Teacher, I make my homework."

And then I have to remind them, I say, "No, I make the homework.

You do the homework."

And then right away they say, "What do you mean?

I make.

You see?

Look at my paper."

And I say to them, "When you make your homework, did you write?"

And they go, "Yes."

And I go, "Did you check?"

"Yes."

And I go, "Did you finish?"

They go, "Yes."

And I go, "Did you notice I said 'did', 'did', 'did', 'did', 'did', 'did', not'make','make',

'make','make','make'?"

And they go, "Oh."

And I say, "Did you finish your homework?"

"Yes."

And these are all actions.

So usually "do" is used for action.

It's an auxiliary verb used for actions, or we talk about to enhance or make emphasis.

I do love you, okay?

So it's auxiliary or action.

"Make," you go, "But teacher,'make' is also a verb."

And I go, "You're right.

It is.

It's a verb."

But when you make something, when you're done, you usually have it.

Here's one you'll like.

When you come to Canada, where I am, and you get a job, if you're lucky you will make money.

If you're lucky you will get a good job and make lots of money.

That's one of the reasons you're studying English.

Not to do money, but to make money, okay?

So just think of this.

When you make something, you usually have something when you're finished.

Perfect example, you make a cake and you make dinner.

When you do something, it's an action.

I'm going to do the dishes or I'm going to do my homework.

I could do you.

Don't ask what that means.

I'm not going to tell you.

Another video another time.

All right?

So we touched on two.

Let's do the third video.

Third video.

The third one.

The third one is equal and fair.

Students usually don't know.

They know equal.

Equal is easy.

"Equal" means two parts.

You cut, you have two.

Equal, exactly the same.

Not exactly this has a ring, but you get the point.

Equal.

Fair, you do know what it is.

Believe it or not, you do know it.

I'm going to give you an example, and you'll get it like that, okay?

You and your friend are both working.

You both make five things.

Each thing is worth $10.

Each of you should get $50, but your friend is better looking than you, and they make

$1,000.

You go, "Ha, that's not right."

That is not fair.

That's what fair means.

Fair is to give what is deserved to the appropriate person.

What is fair?

And we did that with money, okay?

Now quickly, equal, say equal is this one.

When something is equal, it's put into parts that are the same, right?

We have equal teams.

There will be five girls, five girls in each team, or two boys, three girls, two boys,

three girls.

It is equal.

Fair is what is needed for that person or thing, right?

What is right?

In this case, the big girl needs a big pizza pizza.

The small girl needs a small piece.

Otherwise, they will both be hungry.

Well, this one will have too much.

This won't have enough.

What is fair?

Big for big.

Small for small.

That's fair.

Is it equal?

No.

But that's just like life, son.

All right, let's move on.

Finally, we got two more.

Fun and funny.

Look at the boy and girl.

Look at the laughing mouth.

If you like the Joker.

I can't remember the line from the Batman.

Something about fun.

What's so funny?

No.

I don't remember.

Whatever.

Life goes on.

Here we go.

Fun versus funny.

Fun is when you enjoy yourself.

Think of fun in joy.

They're smiling because they're having fun.

But they're not laughing because nothing's funny.

It's just fun.

Funny is you have to go, "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha."

Yeah, you got it.

You laugh.

You have fun.

You say, "That was funny.

What you said was very funny.

I had fun when you told that joke.

It was funny, so I laughed."

They can be used in the same sentence.

It's just you have to understand which one.

If you're a little bit confused and you're over 18, you'll understand this.

If you are having relations with a girl or a boy, and afterwards you kiss, okay, and

you say, "Mm, that was funny," they will go, "Ha ha ha, you don't like how I kiss you.

You laugh at me."

And you go, "No, no, no.

I enjoyed it."

The proper thing to say was, "I had fun.

I enjoyed it."

Not, "It was funny because you're no good."

All right?

You'll remember this.

Don't get it confused.

And finally, come back and go back.

There's a reason why this is the final one, and let me help you with it.

I have students from all over the world fly, and then they like to say... I'll stop the

French, okay?

They fly from all over the world, and when they're going home, they usually say, "When

I come back home, I will speak the good English."

And I go, "Oh, my God.

No, no.

I'm in trouble."

And they go, "Why, teacher?

My accent be bad."

And I go, "No, it's not your accent.

It's not your accent.

It's your bad English."

They go, "Why?"

I go, "Well, here's the deal.

Are you in your country now?"

They say, "No.

I am here."

Then I have to tell them, "Here."

Try and remember this.

When you're standing there, you cannot say, "Go."

You say, "Come."

Because you're standing here, so you're going to say, "When I come back here."

They go, "Really, teacher?"

I go, "Yeah."

They go, "You're going back to your country?"

And I go, "Yes."

They go, "Okay."

When we say, "Go back," it's because you're here, you need to go, and there's the active

verb.

Go.

Go.

You always tell people, "Go," and they must leave, right?

I go, "When you go," watch, I'm gone.

When you go back, because you have to go over a distance.

You must travel.

And once you travel, you say, "I go back.

When I come back, I must be here right now."

They go, "Oh, thank you, teacher."

This is an important lesson, this final one, because you need to come back.

These are the five spoken mistakes, and remember, please remember, when you speak, it's instant.

So if you want to sound like your English is good, because it is, and you've studied

hard, don't make these very common mistakes.

Okay?

So the first one is, remember?

Other and another.

Another is one plus.

We use it for single things, and we say, "In addition," or, "Added on."

When we say, "Other," we usually mean different, okay?

Number two, make and do.

Do is an auxiliary verb, right?

It means action.

Pshh.

While make is, you have something in your hand.

Number three, equal and fair, okay?

I don't make money equal to Bill Gates, and I don't think it's fair, okay?

Number four, fun and funny.

If you're kissing or having any kind of relation with someone, don't say it's funny.

Say it was fun and enjoyable.

Say it's funny when you watch jokes or the Joker and Batman.

And number five, go and come back.

I'm not going to go back, because I don't know where I'd go to, but I will come back

if you...

Well, if you go to www.engvid.com, you'll see me.

So come back, okay?

I'll put it up here, because if you want to know where to go, it makes a difference.

Go to www.engvid.com.

Come back soon.